Environment and development in coastal regions and in small islands

CSI info 7

COMMUNICATION AND EDUCATION IN SUSTAINABLE COASTAL DEVELOPMENT: A GENDER PERSPECTIVE
Margaret Gathoni Karembu, Kenyatta University, Kenya

INTRODUCTION

Communication is an essential act of life. Effective communication determines the extent to which knowledge is transferred. While the acquisition of knowledge is a pre-requisite to socio-economic and technological change, information is an essential catalyst and product of this process of transformation. Recent global events illustrate the contribution of information to development. This is witnessed by the fact that in spite of heavy investment in scientific research and technological innovation as mitigating factors towards unsustainability, little progress has been made in the area of practical application. The gap between the availability of technologies/scientific knowledge and their subsequent under-utilization largely appears to be due to the complex nature in which such information is usually presented. Clearly, the missing link is that of communication.

Alongside this has been a marked growth in the realization that past delivery mechanisms of development (mainly the top-down approach) largely ignored host recipients, who are custodians of much variable indigenous knowledge, technology and skills (or the so-called traditional knowledge and practices) which, communities have used over many millennia to adapt to and manipulate their environment sustainably. The majority of these are women. Indeed, the contribution of women in the provision of sustainable livelihoods for rural and urban dwellers is now widely acknowledged. However, this has not matched women’s contribution to and involvement in gathering, processing and disseminating information for the attainment of sustainable development. These shortcomings are attenuated by a general lack of co-ordination and collaboration between the various stake holders in the development process.

The outcome has been an escalating deterioration and unsustainability of the natural and built-up environments, which has not spared the coastal regions and small islands. These areas which for a long time had not succumbed to the wrath of human interference have lately started to show signs of unsustainability as manifested by erosion of the shoreline; decline in fisheries production and in water quality, degradation of coastal ecosystems and resource use conflicts, (Mwandotto in UNESCO, 1997). This is not surprising due to the variety of interests, and complex nature, of the key players in coastal development, who include the government, the private sector and the local communities. This paper thus argues that designing a communication and education strategy that would amply address sustainability in coastal development will need to take into account the varying interests and motivations to conserve, protect or manage the resources among the stakeholders. A common denominator in addressing this strategy is an understanding of the influence that the gender variable impacts on communication, education and information, which will form the thesis of the paper.

BACKGROUND

Perspectives in gender studies relates to people’s rights to influence and control their own lives and the conditions under which they live. Contrary to the strongly held perception of gender as involving women’s issues, an analysis of the gender variable helps to broaden the knowledge base of roles and interactions of men and women and the constraints they face in their quest to survive. Various gender studies (Southeimer 1991; IDRC 1995; Sigot et al. 1995) have shown that women and men play different roles in society which implies that their information and communication needs are different, though synergistic in effect.

Similarly, the distribution of knowledge within a given community is affected by the gender factor among others like age and occupation. There is thus a need for communication educators to be aware of the fact that when gathering or disseminating information about developmental issues (in this case coastal and small islands development), knowledge is distributed differently within the same social group. Among the Mbeere people of Tharaka Nithi in Kenya, for example, research has found that older women know more about small annual herbs; herd-boys about the range of wild edible fruits; while, honey collectors scored highest on knowledge of the local flowering sequences.

We shall now address the principle spheres of analysis for conducting an inquiry on gender and communication. These are:

(i) Gender relations

Within any social unit of analysis, there exist gender-based disparities in access to and control over resources, decision-making and socio-economic opportunities. One of the most valuable resources that any community could possess is information since it is a powerful mechanism through which social and economic progress is achieved. Access to information empowers communities and social groups to monitor policy, lobby, learn, collaborate, campaign and react to issues. It can therefore rightly be said that democratization of society (where democracy here means awareness of choices and making decisions) largely depends on the quantity, quality, and accessibility of information. This principle is crucial in addressing the roles of communication and education on sustainability of the coastal regions.

Prevailing situation regarding gender relations and communication

Within the African context, most societies are patrilinear and exclude women from ownership of resources. In terms of access to and control of resources and decision making, women are marginalized in terms of inputs and benefits. The content of information made available to women is usually determined without their advice or consent. As the International Development Research Centre (IDRC 1995) notes:

‘Women are caught up in a web of political and economic dependency on the men in their lives: their fathers when they are children; their husbands when they are married; and their brothers if they are widowed.’

Relative to men, women have little power at the local, national and international levels of society and let others (read the male voice) decide what is important for them, but with what consequences? Women end up being mere receivers of information, which often is irrelevant and inappropriate to their needs and aspirations.

Implications of gender relations to the communication and education strategy

The modes through which information is accessed require expenditure, no matter how little, from the simplest – by word of mouth which may require transport costs, telephone costs, purchase of newspapers or other printed matter, radios, televisions – to the more complex information and communication technologies (ICT). Within the patriarchal societies prevalent in Africa, fewer women than men are empowered financially to meaningfully exercise their right of access to information (collection, processing and dissemination). Even when these gadgets are available, the women may have no guarantee of access to, or even control over, the type of information they should get since participation in decision making and socio-economic opportunities are dismal.

Designing strategies to strengthen the role of communication and education in sustainable coastal development raises a number of issues related to the principle of gender relations. These revolve around the broader theme of the ‘rule of rights’ as defined by the various stakeholders.

Some of these are:

• User needs: Women and men have different information requirements based on their life experiences. The process of developing information services should thus be gender-sensitive and participatory right from needs identification, through system design, implementation to evaluation.
• Access and systems control: Access to information should go beyond the traditional gender-biased forms where women, especially those in rural areas, have limited access to and fewer channels to information relative to men. In instances (which are quite few) where access is gender-balanced, many women are illiterate and cannot benefit from printed matter or advanced technological developments in communication such as the ICTs. This calls for the identification of:
  1. existing and emerging institutions that can best respond to this challenge, for example those that would or, are repackaging information;
  2. institutional links that would ensure the information flow and transformation is gender-sensitive.

In whichever way these issues are addressed, the choices lie between the mainstream media (mass media which includes radio, television and newspapers), alternative media (folklore, puppet shows, musical programmes, street plays) and the more current information super-highway – the ICTs. The question that each should tackle is whether communicators are adequately prepared to handle the coastal issues reliably and sustainably using the right format and delivery mechanisms, when we consider the technically complex nature of environmental issues.

I shall now elaborate on the second principle sphere of gender analysis.

(ii) Gender roles and responsibilities

In Africa, men and women have distinctive roles and responsibilities, largely based on social customs and norms. Cultural diversity and social orientation in the division of labour imply that men and women assume distinct socially and culturally defined responsibilities and tasks, both within the household and in the wider community. While the men are primarily concentrated in the productive sector, women perform the triple roles of reproduction, production (women account for 80% of agricultural production), and community service. The knowledge and experience gained from undertaking these roles, as well as their requirements lead women and men to have different needs and aspirations.

Prevailing situation regarding gender roles and communication

In the African context, women bear the responsibility of production and community service. By virtue of their gender roles and responsibilities, women continuously experiment, observe and learn from the environment. In the process, they acquire specialized knowledge and experience in managing resources sustainably. They are thus custodians of valuable indigenous knowledge which in most cases has a ‘scientific orientation’.

In performing many of their vital productive roles, for example water supply and management for the family, women have learnt about the types of areas where they can locate high quality, reliable local water sources. Women are therefore the pillars of the traditional African family and should play a vital role in the development process by contributing knowledge and information on the same. Unfortunately this contribution is often ignored and excluded from the communication process. The value of women’s local knowledge and expertise is unrecognized and considered of low status. When their knowledge is recognized as crucial, they tend to lose ownership of it. Even in the traditional leadership set-up and decision-making, women are rarely involved.

The traditional labour burdens borne by women have other effects that exacerbate their marginalization in the information and communication arena. Education opportunities at the formal level for women are usually compromised which leads to the observed low levels of female employment in the formal sector (high ranks). This means fewer women than men are empowered financially to meaningfully enjoy the rights of access to information (costs of media gadgets). Low literacy levels among women is one big factor impeding their ability to equally share the benefits of information and communication technologies (ICT) yet, the advances in ICTs are having an increasingly profound effect on the landscape of human activity. In this day and age ICTs have the power to change the world through their effect on economic growth and production. That women have so much to offer and benefit raises the questions of their absence in this field and the mechanisms through which these imbalances could be addressed.

Implications of gender roles to a communication and education strategy for coastal management

Identified gender-based constraints as a result of gender roles include traditional and cultural influences that are often gender-biased and lead to women’s subordination to an extent that they (women) internalize their marginalization and are demoralized into lacking self-confidence, have low self-esteem and an internalized poor self-image. Another major constraint is time considering the labour burdens borne by women. In fact, women can hardly claim time, because it only exists in the service of their community and more specifically in the service of men. When thinking about the ‘whens’ and ‘hows’ women can actively participate within the communications strategy, the development work needs to take this into consideration. Take for instance radio programmes; which is the most appropriate airtime for women? Other constraints include women’s poverty – roughly 75% of the world’s population is poor, and women make up the majority of the poor (Dankelman and Davidson 1988) – and lack of women’s power and participation in policy and decision making.

The principle of gender roles and analysis raises pertinent issues, which the Communication and Education strategy should address:

• Indigenous knowledge: Women play a vital role in informal education as custodians and transmitters of indigenous knowledge and culture. Communication strategies should recognize the value of women’s local knowledge by promoting its use through documentation and dissemination among community groups from the grassroots to high office.
• Education and training: There is need to develop and expand appropriate education and training services for women in the information and communication fields.
• Best practice: Though largely unknown, there exists some successful women’s information and communication activities which should be identified, documented and promoted including those addressing ICTs and gender issues. Local capacities and mechanisms for adapting ICTs to women’s needs should be identified.

From the foregoing discussion, it is apparent that, despite the constraints, there is great potential in women as community educators and the gender variable should form the basis for an effective communication strategy for coastal development.

Recognizing some of these highlighted fundamental hurdles to their full contribution in the development process, women have devised various ways of tackling them. One underlying and recurrent trend has been that of organization. Whether spontaneous or sponsored, the number of women organizations has been on the swell. Indeed, recent years have seen an escalating number of women’s groups, which display great diversity in scope of activities, group composition and access to resources. The existing and upcoming structure of women’s organizations offers a starting point for enhancing women’s role as community communicators.

I shall now attempt to elaborate on the general status of such groups in the information and communication arena.

Women’s groups participation in gathering, processing and disseminating information

Women’s groups play an important role in collective and personal development. On the one hand, the members are able to express their needs more effectively; groups satisfy social needs, help pool resources, and define development paths. Secondly, members of the group help one another in times of need or hardship and also help the community meet its needs. Although diverse in scope and structure, most groups are formed to address common needs of which the most prevalent are lack of access to resources, credit and information. Lack of this critical input impedes development and is largely a result of the social, economic and political climate prevailing in each country/region.

A concept of the group structure and one that relates to an aspect of information is the way these groups communicate. Their communication modes range from the very simple face-to-face, to complex networks through cyberspace; all having an influence on the communication process. Furthermore, since groups are formed with the intention of meeting certain specific needs and objectives, they clearly reflect women’s perceptions of the development process; that of participation and collective responsibility.

March, quoted by Mathangani (1989) advocates the usefulness of a women’s group approach in the development of a communication strategy thus :

‘Because women groups typically coalesce purposively, an understanding of the kinds of functions, around which women commonly organize, can help inform us on their needs and the ways in which they seek to satisfy these needs. Analysis of these functions can be useful determining the issues around which projects are to be organized’ (p. 312).

The group approach develops a sense of solidarity that overcomes class and cultural divide, which build members’self-esteem and self-confidence and which consequently empowers women through their collective contribution to the decision-making process.

It is not the scope of this paper to discuss specific groups; but from the literature reviewed, a number of key issues can be identified in the way women’s groups participate in gathering, processing and disseminating information. Pertinent among them are:

• Formal information systems and services exist at different levels depending on the local context. Those in urban areas tend to be of a more complex nature than those in rural areas. At the higher level, several research and training units exist within the group organizational structure. However, most of the data collected is not organized in a retrievable form. Most of the groups, especially the rural-based, lack essential data-gathering devices such as current journals and published reports and computers for easy retrieval. This renders useless important information that the women’s groups collect. A few like the Mangelete in Kibwezi-Kenya use radio listening groups to share experiences on audio tapes.
• Participatory video which is a valuable medium for women to record their experiences and hence help in information gathering is rarely used. For the literate groups, print media and published reports are a common feature. Such groups possess a wealth of magazines, research reports and journals.
• What comes out clearly is that the existing information systems, with libraries as the norm in data management, further marginalize the majority of the women’s groups. Low literacyrates and lack of time prevent women from using these resource centres.
• Dissemination of information is mainly through educational and training seminars, workshops, personal discussions and the mass media. These strategies of information dissemination are however hampered by the various constraints identified earlier.

Suggestions to improve the current status of women’s involvement in information gathering and dissemination

• There is need to investigate the contributions in terms of effectiveness of the information disseminated for and by women’s groups. Liasing with research institutions and then identifying various methods of repackaging information to suit the needs of development projects would be a move in the right direction.
• In data organization and management, there is need to identify delivery mechanisms most appropriate for each women’s group, which accounts for cultural and time constraints.
• There is need to identify the structures and informal communication networks that could be used to improve women’s contribution to the information society.

In conclusion, communication educators and key stakeholders in coastal development should note that successful research is of little value if the findings are not shared with concerned stakeholders and converted into action. Priority must be given to capturing new knowledge systematically and to finding appropriate ways of bringing it to the broader audience. To this end, the communication and education strategy should be based upon action-oriented research, addressing the many neglected areas of practical and strategic concern in the information-communication field.

Suggested areas for research that build effective communication are:

• Identification of specific gender issues and biases that influence control, access and rights associated with information systems along the coastal regions and across the various stakeholders;
• Documentation of information activities and their effectiveness in bringing changes in attitudes and behaviour towards use of coastal resources along gender lines;
• The extent to which ICTs can be adapted to meet local needs and their role in ensuring effective participation by all stakeholders in coastal development; and,
• Identification of avenues for gender-balanced participation at the policy formulation process in the design and management of all development information and communications initiatives.

REFERENCES AND FURTHER READING

Bussette, G.; Rajasunderam, C. V. (Eds.) 1996. Participatory Development Communication; A West African Agenda, Ottawa, IDRC

Charity, K. 1992. Women’s Organization for Conservation. In: Women, Conservation and Agriculture: A Manual for Trainers, London, Commonwealth Secretariat

Dankelman, I.; Davidson J. 1988. Women and Environment in the Third World: Alliance for the Future, London, Earthscan Publications Ltd.

International Development Research Centre, 1995. Missing Links: Gender Equity in Science and Technology for Development, Ottawa, IDRC

Mathangani, S. W. 1989. Information and Women in Development. In: Report of the Expert Group Meeting on the Establishment of a Data Bank on Women and Development in Africa. 15-19 May, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Sigot, L; Thrup A.; Green J. (Eds.) 1995. Towards Common Ground: Gender and Natural Resources Management in Africa, Nairobi, ACTS Press

Southeimer, S. (Ed.) 1991. Women and the Environment: A Reader; Crises and Development in the Third World, London. Earthscan Publications Ltd.

UNESCO 1997. Sustainable Coastal Management. Report of the UNESCO-Kenya National Seminar, Whitesands Hotel, Mombasa 23-25 June, Nairobi, UNESCO.

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